The car control and spatial awareness
required to pull this off is huge, along
with the respect for competitors
about which I often preach. Pro. It
pleased me greatly because I know
what it takes to accomplish this.

I was further gratified to witness
this display of driving prowess because
of the mild horrors I encountered just
two weeks prior with my coaching
client Sara Edge in her first race
after all the track driving we have
done, and that’s where I am going
with today’s rant: late moves.

Sara was repeatedly attacked from
her blind spot. Late moves: don’t make
‘em. But in order not to make such ill-advised pass attempts, the driver must
know exactly what they are. The pros
about whom I wrote, already know. At
least in the thrilling corners on video,
no one got punted into a spin on the
inside rear corner. Loads of talent all
around to stay clean four-wide in the
gray mist of a soaking wet track.

“Late move,” defined: It is after the
turn-in for a corner. Or worse, at the
apex in the middle of a corner. The
videos I was privileged to see showed
Sara’s Cayman Clubsport hang a right

Ru
pertB
errington

Watching some tweeted highlights from recent pro races at Watkins
Glen and Canadian Tire Motorsports
Park, I witnessed some really fine
driving that impressed the heck out
of me. Both after restarts, when
the fields were closely bunched.

At CTMP, it was the prototypesat the pointy end of the overall grid.

Jordan Taylor took his Cadillac two-wide around the outside of Turn 2,
one of the most intimidatingly fast
blind sweepers anywhere (a wow, even
from a jaded warhorse like me) and
continued that way through Turn 3

‘til finally pulling in front on the next
straight. Door-to-door, no contact.

At Watkins Glen, it was the GT gang
in a 15-car knot on a very wet track;
two-, three-, and even (I kid you not)
four-wide from the inner loop to the
exit of The Toe of the Boot. If anyone
touched at all, I sure couldn’t tell. High
risk, yet no spins and no take-outs.

in full view of the camera in the car
attempting the pass. I once called
this the “Vortex of Danger.” There’s a
triangle formed by the turn-in point on
the outside, the inside edge of the road
at the point, and the apex of a corner.

There’s a squeeze play happening here,
and the attacker can see the victim,
but not vice versa. It’s a closing hole
and sticking your nose in there will lead
to body damage and mutual anger.

That’s the “late move.” It looks so
tempting. Sucks the unaware right
in there. For a moment, it looks like
the door is open. It is not, racers. If
the car ahead of you has already
turned for the corner, it is too late.

Try again later. You have got to get
next to the car ahead in the brake
zone. You have got to get into the
driver’s field of vision, because
that driver cannot be expected to
avoid something they cannot see
once turned. Perfectly logical.

Regular readers have heard this
before and thank you for hearing it
again. Please pass this column out
to new drivers, or old ones who don’t
get it – of which there are many.

Incident 1: Sara is aggressive and
just made a late pass of her own a

THE LATE-MOVE PASS/CRASH“ The car control and spatial awarenessrequired to pull this off is huge, alongwith the respect for competitors”